Little Loop, Big Loop

It's entirely ironic that pop and rock fans sneer at dance music for being repetitive, because really, these two fields are no different. Intro, chorus, break, chorus, break, chorus, outro. Pop songs are based on the same hackneyed words being repeated over and over and over til the listener's head explodes from sheer irritation.

Where pop and rock use large sections repeated often, perhaps thirty seconds or minute long, dance music makes use of hundreds of small loops, generally five to ten seconds long. It's counterintuitive that dance music should have longer song durations, because the elements making up the song are being repeated far, far more often than in other genres.

However, this is the absolute key to good dance music - music you can lose yourself in. Dance is a kind of hypnosis through music, like watching a drinking bird bob up and down or a pendulum swing back and forth.

Listening to (good) house, techno, trance and all the associated genres is an altogether different experience, and in some ways even requires a completely different mindset to understand and enjoy. Like people will approach a nature documentary or a slapstick comedy with a different mindset, pop heads should realise that electronic music isn't about singing along. There's no lyrics that need to be learnt or hooks that need be memorised.

The music isn't there for cheap thrills (though this is good too) - it's pure hypnosis, designed to amaze and awe. A fifteen minute song can fly by without ever seeming to run out of ideas or become monotonous if done properly. Listen to Choice - Acid Eiffel to feel this effect.

Still, it seems strange that such small loops can be far more engaging, entrancing and entertaining (the three Es?!) than songs featuring far less repetition - that's what the magic is all about though.